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Luke: I think that’s a really hard thing to decide upon, you know. It really depends on the kid. Like I have practically no freedom at all and I know if I did, I’d probably be out getting drunk right now. My best friend though has all the freedom in the world, yet he still refuses to pick up a cigarette.

Clare: Teens make a lot of mistakes when they are free. Everybody does. But at least they would be making their own mistakes and not their parents’ mistakes. I think everyone, adults included, should be given freedom, but we would still need to follow rules, laws and morals.       

Unit 9, Lesson 5, Ex.2

THE No.1 LADIES’ DETECTIVE AGENCY by ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH

‘Evening, Mma,’ she said politely. ‘Is this seat taken?’

Mma Ramotswe looked up, as if surprised.

‘There is nobody there’, she said. ’It’s quite free.’

Nandira sat down.

‘I am looking forward to watching this film,’ she said pleasantly. ’I have wanted to see it for a long time.’

‘Good’, said Mma Ramotswe. ‘It is nice to see a film that you have always wanted to see.’

There was a silence. The girl was looking at her, and Mma Ramotswe felt quite uncomfortable.

‘I saw you this afternoon,’ said Nandira. ‘I saw you at Maru-a-Pula.’

‘Ah, yes,’ said Mam Ramotswe. ‘I was waiting for somebody.’

‘Then I saw you in the Book Centre,’ Nandira continued. ‘You were looking at a book.’

‘That’s right,’ said Mam Ramotswe. ‘I was thinking of buying a book.’

‘Then you asked Mam Bapitse about me,’ Nandira said quietly. ‘She told me you were asking about me.’

Mma Ramotswe made a mental note to be careful of Mma Bapitse in the future.

‘So why are you following me?’ asked Nandira, turning in her seat to stare at Mma Ramotswe.

Mam Ramotswe thought quickly. There was no point in denying it, and she might as well try to make the most of a difficult situation. So she told Nandira about her father’s anxieties and how he approached her.

‘He wants to find out whether you’re seeing boys,’ she said. ‘He’s worried about it.’

Nadira looked pleased.

‘Well, if he is worried, he’s only got himself to blame if I keep going out with boys.’

‘And are you?’ asked Mma Ramotswe. ‘Are you going out with lots of boys?’

Nadira said quietly, ‘Not really’.

‘But what about this Jack?’ asked Mma Ramotswe. ‘Who’s he?’

‘Jack doesn’t exist, I made him up. I want them – my family – to think that I’ve got a boyfriend’, she said. ‘I want them to think there’s somebody I chose, not somebody they thought right for me. Do you understand that?’

Mma Ramotswe thought for a moment. She felt sorry for this poor over-protected girl, and imagined just how in such circumstances one might want to pretend to have a boyfriend.

‘Yes, I understand,’ she said.

‘Are you going to tell him?’ Nandira asked.

‘Well, do I have much choice?’ asked Mma Ramotswe. ‘I can hardly say that I’ve seen you with a boy called Jack when he doesn’t really exist.’

Nandira sighed. ‘Well, I suppose I’ve asked for it. It’s been a silly game.’ She paused. ‘But once he realises that there’s nothing in it, do you think he might let me have a bit more freedom? Do you think that he might let me live my life for a little without having to tell him how I spend every single minute?’

‘I could try to persuade him,’ said Mma Ramotswe. ‘I don’t know whether he’ll listen to me. But I could try.’

‘Please do,’ said Nandira. ‘Please try.’       

Unit 9, Lesson 7, Ex.3

I thought that my friend Jenny was the most talkative girl in town – she can be on the phone for hours. But I’ve learnt that she’s got a mate – Jill by name – who can talk from morning till night. She does everything by phone – invites her friends to her birthday party, buys things (she’s got a smart phone with internet access), apologises for being late and texts a great deal. She prefers talking on the phone to communicating with people in person. On the one hand, it’s not bad because it means that Jill is a very friendly girl. On the other hand, it’s really awful, because her phone bills are huge! The other day she went to bed at 2a.m. She had to talk in a low voice as everybody in the house was sleeping. However, she woke up her Mum. She got into a fury and started screaming. As a result, Jill is grounded now – she is not allowed to go to the cinema today – it’s out of the question. It’s a pity.

Unit 9, Lesson 8, Ex.2b)

My name is Tony. I don’t really know you so I guess I should probably start off by telling you a little about me. I’m a student at Halifax West High School in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. I’m sixteen years old, so I’m graduating next year. What year are you in? I’m in the IB* programme, which in case you don’t know is a really hard school programme. I’m beginning to regret choosing it – I don’t want my marks to drop. Are you enjoying school? I’m looking forward to attending university. I haven’t decided yet what university I will be going to, but I’m thinking of going to Dalhousie University and not living at home. Do you live with your parents?

My parents are divorced so I have two separate houses. One is in Brookside, which is a little community outside the city. My other house is in the city. I have two brothers and one sister, all younger than me. I also have a dog and two cats at my Brookside house and two cats in my city house. I play a lot of sports but my favourite is skiing. I do competitive skiing so I’m very busy. I ski around 15 hours during the week and sometimes more if there is a competition at the weekend.  Do you do any sports? Are you on any of your school’s sports teams? What sports do you like to participate in or watch? I enjoy watching hockey on television. My favourite team is Montreal Canadians. Do you have a favourite hockey team? By the way, Halifax is also home of the Halifax Mooseheads – a junior hockey team. Their games are usually exciting and they are a great event for people in the city.

Halifax is a port city; actually it is the second biggest port in the world. It’s a pretty busy place, especially in summer. The city does not have a very large population but it is not too small either, which is great because it’s still fun but there’s not a lot of traffic all the time. It’ not a big city, but it’s not too boring either. There are lots of high schools and five universities in Halifax. There are also lots of interesting things you can do learn. The downtown area is a very historic place where much of Halifax’ history begins. The waterfront is a very nice area of Halifax in the summer and it attracts a lot of tourists. However, one of my favourite cities is Montreal. It has awesome shopping and is not very far away from Halifax, a long drive, but a short plane ride. 

I’ve also been to lots of different places in the world. I’ve visited France twice, Greece, Scotland, Ireland and some parts of the United States. Greece is my favourite place that I’ve visited. The country is beautiful and it was an amazing experience visiting Greece. I hope I can go back there some day.    

Talking about skiing, there are not many ski hills here and they’re really small. But luckily, it snows a lot so it makes up for the lack of mountains. I also water ski in summer, but I like snow skiing better. Do you like the snow? I don’t mind it when it snows all night and it is cleaned up in the morning so I can carry on with my usual routines, but when it snows during the day and it is so bad that I have to stay at home I do not like it. Sometimes if I’m tired or have homework that I did not do or a test I am not ready for, I am glad when there’s a big storm overnight and I wake up to a white winter wonderland. This is because school is cancelled due to the weather. Canada has crazy winters weather wise but it is all a part of living here even though it gets annoying especially after winter has been here for five months. Does it often snow where you live?

When I come home after skiing, I’m usually starving so I have my supper and talk to my family a little while, before I start doing my homework.  After my homework is done I usually go on my computer and talk to my friends on Facebook or phone. Sometimes I read or watch television until I go to bed. Does it sound like a typical day for you? What is a normal day like for you? I’m also into making movies and taking pictures. I’ve just got my driving licence and it is awesome – I love driving! When I first started learning I hated it because I found it hard. Now I love it because with practice it became easy. Do you drive? Do you like it?

Anyway, I hope you can write me back and tell me a little about yourself and your life as well. 

Tony.

Unit 9, Lesson 10, Ex. 4

1) telling good news: Guess what! Have you heard? I’ve got some good news.

2) telling bad news: It’s bad news, I’m afraid. I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news

3) reacting to bad news: How sad! How awful! That’s too bad. That’s a pity. That’s terrible. You must be very sad. I’m really sorry. You must be fed up.

4) reacting to good news: Well don! You must be really pleased. Congratulations!